Early Decision Pharmacy Interview

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PharmD 2021

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Did anyone apply for pharmacy school early decision? How long does it take to receive an interview after PharmCAS verify the application?
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I submitted my early decision application on September 8 and received an interview invitation on September 12 at Campbell University
 
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PharmD 2021 said:
Good for you! Is it going to be online? Good Luck!
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I’m not sure right now, I’m waiting on the lady to email me back about that because the email wasn’t clear on that. Thanks for wishing me luck! Did you apply early decision?
 
Are you guys choosing to ignore the pharmacy saturation (-3%, decline on job outlook posted by BLS) ? Seriously, I just want to know what you guys think about this when you are entering schools charging $200K+ for a nearly impossible job security.
 
rxkrafted said:
Are you guys choosing to ignore the pharmacy saturation (-3%, decline on job outlook posted by BLS) ? Seriously, I just want to know what you guys think about this when you are entering schools charging $200K+ for a nearly impossible job security.
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I’m not sure what you mean because I just looked up active people that are hiring pharmacists in my area and a bunch of openings came up. Right now the Veterans Affairs is offering to pay your way through pharmacy school just so you’ll work with them when you graduate. So obviously there’s a demand in my area at least. Thanks for your concern but I think I’m fine.
 
angelnico1e said:
I’m not sure what you mean because I just looked up active people that are hiring pharmacists in my area and a bunch of openings came up. Right now the Veterans Affairs is offering to pay your way through pharmacy school just so you’ll work with them when you graduate. So obviously there’s a demand in my area at least. Thanks for your concern but I think I’m fine.
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You're delusional or in denial. Do you know how many pharmacists apply to the VA regardless of which area? Do you know how many applicants apply to each opening?

I'm not gonna argue with you lol. I just wanted to hear what you had to say but its pretty clear that you know nothing about the real world.
 
I think you just comment on every potential pharmacist’s post just to bring them down. I’ve seen you on many other posts talking about the same thing. You need to just let us be and quit being such a buzzkill.
 
angelnico1e said:
I think you just comment on every potential pharmacist’s post just to bring them down. I’ve seen you on many other posts talking about the same thing. You need to just let us be and quit being such a buzzkill.
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I will ECHO what @rxkrafted has posted! Have you done your due diligence in research? Do you know there are literally 100's of applicants for 1 spot? Not just at the VA but even in retail!

I can tell you I have qualified and been referred for MANY VA positions and has RESULTED in absolutely nothing!

The market is abysmal at best! I wish there had been posts back in 2015 to warn pre-pharms of the non-existent market.
 
Ladyg228 said:
I will ECHO what @rxkrafted has posted! Have you done your due diligence in research? Do you know there are literally 100's of applicants for 1 spot? Not just at the VA but even in retail!

I can tell you I have qualified and been referred for MANY VA positions and has RESULTED in absolutely nothing!

The market is abysmal at best! I wish there had been posts back in 2015 to warn pre-pharms of the non-existent market.
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Yes i have done research for pharmacists in my area. There is actually a growth for pharmacists in my area. What the other person fails to realize is that is the national average, not for every place in the United States. There are many different areas a person with a pharmacy degree can work, and I plan to dual degree in something like clinical research. I plan to ask during the interview if there’s a good chance I can get a residency or not. But with all the pandemic, I’m sure there’s a need for healthcare personnel. Not many people in my area go for pharmacy, so that’s why there’s a small growth for jobs.
 
angelnico1e said:
Yes i have done research for pharmacists in my area. There is actually a growth for pharmacists in my area. What the other person fails to realize is that is the national average, not for every place in the United States. There are many different areas a person with a pharmacy degree can work, and I plan to dual degree in something like clinical research. I plan to ask during the interview if there’s a good chance I can get a residency or not. But with all the pandemic, I’m sure there’s a need for healthcare personnel. Not many people in my area go for pharmacy, so that’s why there’s a small growth for jobs.
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Actually, it is the opposite. When there is a pandemic, there is not much need for some health care personnel, including physicians depending on speciality. Is there a job growth in NP and PA? Yes, but there are a lot of schools popping up.
The job growth plummeted to 4% for doctors, FYI. Out of all the professions, pharmacists are affected the worst with cut in hours and salary. Not sure where you live, but I seriously think that pharmacists are in demand due to temporary job offers, not full time job offers. There are creating temp jobs to have pharmacists administer flu shot COVID shot

Similar to the housing crisis, when there were foreclosures, do you think they need a lot real estate agents. No
 
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I don’t think this kind of stuff is what the person that started the discussion wanted to talk about.

And if you think that foreclosures mean more real estate jobs, you’re not that bright because that obviously means that people don’t have the money to buy houses. Common sense.

Thank y’all for the insight but I’m good with where I’m going now. Unless you have suggestions that are better than pharmacy
 
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okay but remember to revisit this thread after you graduate just so you can say we were right.
 
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angelnico1e said:
Right now the Veterans Affairs is offering to pay your way through pharmacy school
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Go take a peek in Pharmacy>Pharmacy Residency and Fellowship and the VA HPSP thread. Every single person in there that was commenting didn't get selected. You think just cause the VA is offering that, that it'll be an easy thing to get into. Good luck.
 
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angelnico1e said:
I’m not sure right now, I’m waiting on the lady to email me back about that because the email wasn’t clear on that. Thanks for wishing me luck! Did you apply early decision?
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You're welcome! Yes, I did apply for early decision, but haven't heard back yet. The school told me that I should hear within two weeks.
 
angelnico1e said:
I don’t think this kind of stuff is what the person that started the discussion wanted to talk about.

And if you think that foreclosures mean more real estate jobs, you’re not that bright because that obviously means that people don’t have the money to buy houses. Common sense.

Thank y’all for the insight but I’m good with where I’m going now. Unless you have suggestions that are better than pharmacy
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If you want to pursue something in heath care, PA job growth is 31%.
Pro PA school:Even though schools are opening, only 8,000 are graduating from PA school.

Second point: The pros of PA school, you can still do the clinical research that you enjoy, you have prescriptive authority, you can get reimbursed for your service because you provide the same service as a physician- diagnosing, performing a physical, and prescribing. You can work in the hospital or with physician group as a contractor.

Third point: And you will get paid more with an additional year of residency. Plus the debt will be less for PA compared to pharmacy depending on the school. PA is only two years plus residency.

Cons of pharmacy:
200k in debt even if get scholarship, you still be in debt as pharmacy schools have a limited amount. Pharmacy residency is even more competitive than medical or PA residency, because There is not enough programs and there is not enough seats. The average number of seats for pharmacy residency is three seats and for top programs it is six seats. Vs medical or pa residency is about 15 to 20 seats.

Another con for pharmacy plus residency/ you will never get reimbursed for the clinical services you do. Yes, pharmacist are now recognized as health care providers, but there are not getting reimbursed for clinical services. Pharmacy mainly get reimbursed for dispensing, but that reimbursement by insurance is going down.

Point number three, a residency or two in pharmacy after four years of pharm school does not even guarantee a job nor does it increase your salary compared to a retail pharmacist.

Basically, as a clinical pharmacist you will either be a salaried employee at a hospital or you will be working for a school of pharmacy.

If you choose to ignore this post that’s fine, as long as you have clear goal of what you want to do with respect to pharmacy. It is just that if I were you, I would avoid hospital or retail pharmacy.

If you are truly interested in research, then get a PHD in pharmacology and work for Big Pharma. but then, you are not really a pharmacist.
 
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angelnico1e said:
I don’t think this kind of stuff is what the person that started the discussion wanted to talk about.

And if you think that foreclosures mean more real estate jobs, you’re not that bright because that obviously means that people don’t have the money to buy houses. Common sense.

Thank y’all for the insight but I’m good with where I’m going now. Unless you have suggestions that are better than pharmacy
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As a new residency grad who just got a job I want to also caution you guys on this choice.

For reference I went to the best pharmacy school in the nation and one of the best residency programs in the country. I still had many people in my class and in the prior class who didn't have jobs coming out. Think about that. That's coming from a place of networking and connections. Also I hate to say it, but your likelihood of getting a residency, depending on school, is going to be lower. Our match rate was 80% and we still had quite a few people who didn't match. National average is somewhere around 50-60%. There are thousands of people who apply and it is cutthroat. Really think about that and know that schools are going to tell you whatever they have to in order to reel you in to go there. They need the money, especially right now.

And for myself and my friends, getting jobs was NOT easy. The market is extremely, extremely tough. There were people in the class above me who had to wait it out 6+ months for jobs. There were others who were waiting on jobs post-residency which was also really surprising and scary.
Unless you are going in with a full scholarship you should really think about your decision. I know a few people post PGY-1 right now who do not have jobs.

If it helps, I've been told I'm pretty positive on the boards and if you look at my history I don't usually post about the market because I'm focusing in on myself. But I know people who are still looking for jobs and the loans are piling up. It probably doesn't mean anything but if you'd like some honest insight from someone who has just been in the market feel free to DM me.

EDIT:

Sorry I realized I was speaking specifically about LECOM in terms of residency but I edited my post and it still is applicable to most pharmacy schools really in terms of match rate. Matching is not guaranteed, the process is expensive and it can be a lot. I apologize for the confusion! I ended up looking at too many posts at once :)
 
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PharmD 2021 said:
Did anyone apply for pharmacy school early decision? How long does it take to receive an interview after PharmCAS verify the application?
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I applied to Creighton on 9/1 and just got an email today that I have a chance to be interviewed. So it took about two weeks. I'm still waiting to hear back from another school I applied to. I guess the wait time depends on the school.
 
PharmD 2021 said:
Did anyone apply for pharmacy school early decision? How long does it take to receive an interview after PharmCAS verify the application?
Click to expand...

When PharmCAS does the verification it also has the list of all schools utilizing their services (nearly everyone at this point). If you click on your specific program listed, they would have a date-line of first to last interviews whether they be rolling admissions or not. It will show you the first interview date that you would participate in should you be granted an interview. Most typically try to put this information out at least 2 weeks in advance (some sooner, some closer to the first interview date). Some programs are specific enough to actually have a special interview day reserved only to early decision participants (which should be listed in some established programs).

More times than not, you'd simply be placed at the first interview schedule day of the program (so guesstimate two weeks out of first interview date and that is roughly when you should be contacted for your interview). However, due to PharmCAS holding your account to apply elsewhere, the program would put you as a priority in knowing if you were accepted or not (or granted an interview or not). Reason being is if you are not accepted, the school is mandated to communicate to PharmCAS of their decision so as to put your account out of being held on the PharmCAS site and thus allowing you to apply elsewhere.

As far as what everyone else is talking about with the job outlook. 100% worth remembering. Good luck.
 
BC_89 said:
When PharmCAS does the verification it also has the list of all schools utilizing their services (nearly everyone at this point). If you click on your specific program listed, they would have a date-line of first to last interviews whether they be rolling admissions or not. It will show you the first interview date that you would participate in should you be granted an interview. Most typically try to put this information out at least 2 weeks in advance (some sooner, some closer to the first interview date). Some programs are specific enough to actually have a special interview day reserved only to early decision participants (which should be listed in some established programs).

More times than not, you'd simply be placed at the first interview schedule day of the program (so guesstimate two weeks out of first interview date and that is roughly when you should be contacted for your interview). However, due to PharmCAS holding your account to apply elsewhere, the program would put you as a priority in knowing if you were accepted or not (or granted an interview or not). Reason being is if you are not accepted, the school is mandated to communicate to PharmCAS of their decision so as to put your account out of being held on the PharmCAS site and thus allowing you to apply elsewhere.

As far as what everyone else is talking about with the job outlook. 100% worth remembering. Good luck.
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Thank you for all these information!
 
PharmD 2021 said:
Thank you! You as well. Keep me updated and tell me how the interview goes
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I had the interview yesterday. It must’ve gone well because a few hours after I received a call saying that I had been accepted!
 
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PharmD 2021 said:
Congratulations!!! How did you prepare for the interview?
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I just kind of found out what kind of questions they might ask and thought about what my answer would be a little bit. But it was an MMI interview, and it’s hard to prepare for those because most of the questions are ethical what would you do questions. You just have to make sure that you speak your thinking process; that’s more or less what they want, rather than a simple yes or no or other one word answer.
 
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angelnico1e said:
Yes i have done research for pharmacists in my area. There is actually a growth for pharmacists in my area. What the other person fails to realize is that is the national average, not for every place in the United States. There are many different areas a person with a pharmacy degree can work, and I plan to dual degree in something like clinical research. I plan to ask during the interview if there’s a good chance I can get a residency or not. But with all the pandemic, I’m sure there’s a need for healthcare personnel. Not many people in my area go for pharmacy, so that’s why there’s a small growth for jobs.
Click to expand...
angelnico1e said:
I’m not sure what you mean because I just looked up active people that are hiring pharmacists in my area and a bunch of openings came up. Right now the Veterans Affairs is offering to pay your way through pharmacy school just so you’ll work with them when you graduate. So obviously there’s a demand in my area at least. Thanks for your concern but I think I’m fine.
Click to expand...

I would like to chime in and say that a lot of job openings have already been filled internally and are only posted publicly because it's required by HR. This is true for many retail chains, including the one I used to work for. As for your comment about the pandemic increasing need for healthcare personnel, I found this to be the opposite for pharmacists. I work at a hospital which is part of a large health system and our hours have been cut due to decreased census, hospitals losing money from cancelled elective surgeries, and many pharmacy services being put on hold to conserve PPE and diminish exposure. From what I hear, my peers who work retail have experienced hours cuts too rather than increased demand.

While it's true that pharmacist demand varies across the country, do you think it will stay that way for long? As you admit, the national average shows negative growth in pharmacist demand while pharmacy schools are still graduating PharmDs in record numbers. Obviously it doesn't take a math genius to figure out there will be many unemployed and underemployed pharmacists in the following years. We are already seeing this actually - even some top 10 schools are now reporting ~20-30% unemployment for their 2019 grads. Do you think these unemployed pharmacists will move to fill areas like yours where there is demand or will they choose to remain unemployed with hundreds of thousands dollars in debt and move back in with their parents?
 
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Timbo said:
I would like to chime in and say that a lot of job openings have already been filled internally and are only posted publicly because it's required by HR. This is true for many retail chains, including the one I used to work for. As for your comment about the pandemic increasing need for healthcare personnel, I found this to be the opposite for pharmacists. I work at a hospital which is part of a large health system and our hours have been cut due to decreased census, hospitals losing money from cancelled elective surgeries, and many pharmacy services being put on hold to conserve PPE and diminish exposure. From what I hear, my peers who work retail have experienced hours cuts too rather than increased demand.

While it's true that pharmacist demand varies across the country, do you think it will stay that way for long? As you admit, the national average shows negative growth in pharmacist demand while pharmacy schools are still graduating PharmDs in record numbers. Obviously it doesn't take a math genius to figure out there will be many unemployed and underemployed pharmacists in the following years. We are already seeing this actually - even some top 10 schools are now reporting ~20-30% unemployment for their 2019 grads. Do you think these unemployed pharmacists will move to fill areas like yours where there is demand or will they choose to remain unemployed with hundreds of thousands dollars in debt and move back in with their parents?
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Actually I’m going to get a dual degree as well as specialize in a certain area such as a CPP or cardiology or something else. So it’s highly unlikely I’ll be in the retail market. I’m very smart and I feel that I’ll have no problem getting a job out of school.
 
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angelnico1e said:
Actually I’m going to get a dual degree as well as specialize in a certain area such as a CPP or cardiology or something else. So it’s highly unlikely I’ll be in the retail market. I’m very smart and I feel that I’ll have no problem getting a job out of school.
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Best of luck to you. But I would reconsider.Just curious, What dual degree is going to help you specialize in cardiology. If specializing in cardiology is what you want, then you would be better off pursuing PA school and do a residency in cardiology rather than cardiologic clinical pharmacist.

There is no demand for a clinical pharmacist that specializes in cardiology. Because no one needs a pharmacist specialized in cardiology. The cardiologists know what medications to prescribe for each patient. And a staff pharmacist without a specialization in cardiology can dose Heparin and Warfarin and correct Mg and K in a patient.

The medications don’t require in patient or outpatient monitoring, nor any narrow therapeutic dose changes. If you are going to do anything in clinical pharmacy, you should be looking at Oncology, or Infectious Disease or Emergency Room pharmacist. But honestly, if you are smart, you should consider PA school
 
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Rx1992 said:
Best of luck to you. But I would reconsider.Just curious, What dual degree is going to help you specialize in cardiology. If specializing in cardiology is what you want, then you would be better off pursuing PA school and do a residency in cardiology rather than cardiologic clinical pharmacist.

There is no demand for a clinical pharmacist that specializes in cardiology.
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I never said that the dual degree would be for cardiology. And actually yes there is, there’s many different areas of specialty a pharmacist can have. If one can’t find a job in one area there’s many others out there.
 
angelnico1e said:
I never said that the dual degree would be for cardiology. And actually yes there is, there’s many different areas of specialty a pharmacist can have. If one can’t find a job in one area there’s many others out there.
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Look at job postings. There is zero demand for a pharmacist in cardiology There is either a ID pharmacy position, several Oncology positions, Psychiatry or Critical Care. But honestly, if you are smart, I would consider PA school. You can still pursue cardiology and you would be in demand, and you still learn about medications as a PA.
 
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Never really said that I wanted to do cardiology either, it was just an option or example. I’m not the type of person that wants to be a physician totally. So thanks for the information but I’ll be fine doing whatever I decide to do with my pharmacy degree.
 
angelnico1e said:
Never really said that I wanted to do cardiology either, it was just an option or example. I’m not the type of person that wants to be a physician totally. So thanks for the information but I’ll be fine doing whatever I decide to do with my pharmacy degree.
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PA-physician assistant. less liability than a physician since you would be under physician supervision.

Well, best of luck to you!
 
There's that snowflake pre-pharm student everyone was talking about. Looks like they actually do exist...
I love it when a pre-pharm tries to educate actual pharmacists about the profession. Being smart has nothing to do with job security after you graduate. I actually know two classmates that specialized in cardio: 1 of them has a job with the VA because of existing relationship prior to school and another is still looking for a full-time job while working PRN in retail. I'm done trying to change your mind lol but I just want to let you know how wrong you are.
 
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rxkrafted said:
There's that snowflake pre-pharm student everyone was talking about. Looks like they actually do exist...
I love it when a pre-pharm tries to educate actual pharmacists about the profession. Being smart has nothing to do with job security after you graduate. I actually know two classmates that specialized in cardio: 1 of them has a job with the VA because of existing relationship prior to school and another is still looking for a full-time job while working PRN in retail. I'm done trying to change your mind lol but I just want to let you know how wrong you are.
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I’ll let y’all know when I get a job after graduation
 
angelnico1e said:
Actually I’m going to get a dual degree as well as specialize in a certain area such as a CPP or cardiology or something else. So it’s highly unlikely I’ll be in the retail market. I’m very smart and I feel that I’ll have no problem getting a job out of school.
Click to expand...
angelnico1e said:
Never really said that I wanted to do cardiology either, it was just an option or example. I’m not the type of person that wants to be a physician totally. So thanks for the information but I’ll be fine doing whatever I decide to do with my pharmacy degree.
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With a dual degree and at least two years of residency to specialize, your education and training will essentially take nearly as long as a MD except you will likely make less than half the salary an MD makes. That's assuming salaries stay the way they are now, but looking at how how fast PharmD supply is outpacing demand I would expect clinical pharmacists salaries to drop the same way retail is right now. Of course you may not care about money at all.

I'm wondering which location are you looking into that as such great pharmacist demand growth? And what data are you looking at that reports such growth?
 
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I also would like to know where this location is that is in such demand for pharmacists... it must not be on Earth
 
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Rx1992 said:
OP is joining Campbell University in NC. NC is heavily saturated.
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LOL. I know for a fact that NC is not in demand for pharmacist because I know several pharmacists in both retail and hospital over there that confirmed when they had openings in the past. FYI there are 3 main pharmacy schools in NC that I am aware of. Campbell graduates ~100 students/year, UNC graduates 150+ students/year, Winggate graduates ~100. Do the math.
 
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ValeRx said:
No you won't. You'll never show your face around here again because it will be humiliating. Your pre-pharm arrogance is laughable and you will never come back to tell us you were wrong.
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Bet. Just don’t know me
 
I went to UNC and I can confirm that getting employed in the state is very VERY difficult. And again I know people from my year, the year above me and from multiple schools in the state who haven't found jobs yet

My cousin specifically when I was first looking at pharmacy started warning me about the profession because she knew a Campbell pharmacist who didn't have a job and had been looking for at least a year and that was in 2015.

Then again I had a great mentor who came from campbell but she'd been employed in like 2012 after a residency. I dunno this thread is getting really wonky but just be ready to grind and I mean GRIND if you are going to pharmacy school. I had to live at home during my residency year and I've become a super saver. Things won't work out the way you think they will (I promise you this because they never do) so I'd start having like 10-15 backup plans. You're going to need them in this profession and that's the honest truth :/
 
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